GRAMMAR FOR TOEFL PREPARATION

SUBJECT-VERB AGREEMENT

Every sentence at least consist of one subject and one verb. The subject usually placed place before the verb, but sometimes subject separated from the verb. Subject and verb in a sentence must agree in a person and number.

1.      Subject Placed before Verb

-          He is the new director of the institute.

                   S   V

The singular subject he placed before the singular verb is.

2.      Subject Separated from the Verb

-          The boy in the room is studying.

   _{singular S                         singular V}

-          The boys in the room are studying.

   _{plural S                             plural V}

The sentences above show that the subject placed separately with the verb.

It is very often if the subject and verb are separated, they will be separated by a prepositional phrase and it has no effect on the verb.

Examples:

-          The view of these disciplines varies from time to time.

_{singular S          prepositional P                   singular V}

-          The study of languages is very interesting.

   _{singular S       prepositional P               singular V}

-          Several theories on this subject have been proposed.

    _{plural S                         prepositional P                  Plural V}        

The following expressions also have no effect on the verb.

together with            along with accompanied by       as well as

 

           

-          The actor, along with his assistants is going to a party tonight.

  _{singular S                                                             singular V}

-          The man together with his ten children is leaving soon.

  _{singular S                                                                     singular V}

3.      Word That Always Take Singular Verb and Pronouns

When the following words are used as subject, they are always singular. Some of these words are plural in meaning, but they always require singular verb in formal written English.

everyone          someone          anyone             no one             each

everybody        somebody        anybody           no body           either

everything        something        anything          nothing            neither

-          Everyone        is            here.

_{singular S           singular V}

-          Neither      of     these      books       is       very       new

_{singular S                                                          singular V}

_-           Nobody works harder than I do.

_{singular S   singular V}

4.      None/ No

None or no can take either s singular or plural verb depending on the noun which follow it.

-          None of the counterfeit money has been found.

  _{singular   singular V}

-          None of the students have finished the exam yet.

        _{plural N       plural V}

-          No example    is      relevant to this case.

_{singular     singular V}

_-           No examples are relevant in this case.

_{plural          Plural V}

5.      Either/Neither

When either and neither are followed by or and nor the verb maybe singular or plural depending of the noun which follow or and nor.

-          Neither Nisa nor Anis   is going to the beach.

  _{singular     singular}

-          Either Jim or his friends are going to the beach.

         _{plural                plural}

6.      Gerund as Subject

If a sentence begins with gerund, the verb must be singular.

-          Writing many letters makes her happy.

-          Dieting is very popular today.

-          Not studying has caused him many problems.

7.      Collective Noun

Word that indicate a number of people are always singular.

Congress               family              group               commitee         class

Organization         team                army                minority           crowd government      jury            public              majority           club

-          The family was elated by the news.

-          The majority believes that we are in no danger.

-          The crowd was wild with excitement.

-          The organization makes an event.

8.      Noun that Are Always Plural

There are some nouns that always considered plural. They cannot be singular.

scissors                 shorts               pants                jeans                trousers                       glasses      pliers               tweezers

-          The pants are in the cupboard.

-          The scissors are dull.

-          The jeans were new

Exercise 1: choose the correct form of the verb in the following sentences!

1.      The picture of the soldiers (bring/bringss) back many memories.

2.      Mr. Tom, accompanied by several members of commitee, (have/has) proposed some changes of the rules.

3.      Neither Frans nor Mary (is/are) going to the play tonight.

4.      Anything (is/are) better that going to another movie tonight.

5.      The jury (is/are) trying to make a decision.

Exercise 2: Choose the letter of the underlined word or group of words that is not correct!

1.      Each of the nurses reports to the operating room when his or her name

A                  B                                                          C

is called.

     D

2.      The athlete, together with his coach and several relatives, are traveling

           A                      B         C                                            B

to the Olympic Games.

3.      A lunch of soup and sandwiches do not appeal to all of the students.

A                  B                              C                 D              

4.      Mrs. Steve , along with her cousins from new Mexico, are planning to

  A              B                                                         D

attend the festivities.

5.      Neither of the scout leaders know how to trap wild animals or how to

A                           B                                             C

prepare them for mounting.

                              D

CONDITIONAL SENTENCE

A. Definition of Conditional Sentence

In everyday life, we often suppose. For example, if (when) you want to be my boyfriend, I'll make you the happiest person in the world. If I were rich, I would wake up 5-star hotel on Kuta beach. If I had wings I would fly star cited by you. And so on. Such sentences are called conditional sentences. Conditional sentences to express predictable fact in the future or untrue event in the present and in the past (ganesha operation 2010: 83)[1].

According to Raymond Murphy, Conditional Sentences are sentences used to express supposition of an event that has not happened, or even impossible. Conditionals has several forms that represent different forms of time, in other words, the form of conditional sentence will depend on the assumed form of the event. Here are a few patterns of Conditional Sentences[2].

According to Mulyono dan Widayanti, Conditional sentence are sentences expressing factual implication, or hypothetical situtations and their consequence. Conditional sentences consist of two parts : the if clause and main clause[3].

Conditional sentence are linguistics expressing factual implications, or Hypotesis situations and their Material conditional. They are so called because the validity of the Main clause of the sentence is conditional on the existence of certain circumstances, which may be expressed in a Dependent clause or may be understood from the context.

In grammar, conditional sentences are sentences discussing factual implications or hypothetical situations and their consequences. Languages use a variety of conditional constructions and verb forms (such as the conditional mood) to form such sentences.

A full conditional sentence (one which expresses the condition as well as its consequences) therefore contains two Clause: the dependent clause expressing the condition, called the protasis; and the main clause expressing the consequence, called the apodosis[4]. An example of such a sentence (in English grammar) is the following: “If it rains, the picnic will be cancelled”

Here the condition is expressed by the clause if it rains, this being the protasis, while the consequence is expressed by the picnic will be cancelled, this being the apodosis. (The protasis may either precede or follow the apodosis; it is equally possible to say "The picnic will be cancelled if it rains".) In terms of Logic, the protasis corresponds to the Antecedent (logic), and the apodosis to the Consequent. In English, the conditional sentences in general have the following characteristics:

a. use of the word if in clause (subordinate clause). Because of this clause if preceded    by a clause if it is called.

b. use of auxiliary capital, such as will, can, may, must, would, could, Might, etc. the principal sentence (main clause).

B. Types of Conditional Sentence

Conditional Sentences are also known as Conditional Clauses or If Clauses. They are used to express that the action in the main clause (without if) can only take place if a certain condition (in the clause with if) is fulfilled. Full conditional sentences contain two clauses: the condition or protasis, and the consequence or apodosis. while English conditional sentences can be divided into the two broad classes of factual/predictive and hypothetical (counterfactual), depending on the form of the verb in the condition (protasis). The terms "factual" and "counterfactual" broadly correspond to the linguistic modalities called realis and irrealis[5].

a.  factual/real conditional

some thing which may possibly happen in the future.

Conditional				Independent clause
If	subject	V (present)	,	Subject	will	Verb 1
If	I	Have a naughty Student		I	Will	Punish him

fact : I may have a naughty student in the future

b. factual conditionals / impossible result

Conditional				Independent clause
If	Subject	V (past)	Object	Subject	Would+	Verb1	object
If	I	Had	A naughty student	I	Would	Punish	Her

           fact : I don’t have a naughty student

e.g :

v  if I had a cell phone, I would call him

fact : I don’t a cell phone, so I won’t call him

v  If I were her mother, I would let her go

fact : I am not her mother, so I won’t let her go

note : remember that the verb BE is always were in contrary-to-fact conditional

In English conditional sentences there are 3 types:

a.      conditional sentences type 1 (Future Possible)[6]

The first conditional (also called conditional type 1) is a structure used for talking about possibilities in the present or in the future.

This is used to denote an action that will be / happen in the future if a condition fulfilled. The possibility of doing that, depending on the condition that met or not. Attitudes of the speaker in this case showed the neutral and still hope that these actions can occur.

Real conditionals expressing generalizations usually have the same tense (usually simple present or simple past) in both clauses. However, if the simple present tense is used in the if-clause, will + verb can be used in the main clause without changing the meaning.

Formula           :

If + S + Verb (present), S + future tense OR subjek + future tense, if + subjek + future tense

For this type of sentence structure as follows:

v  Main clause _ simple future tense

v  If clause_ simple present tense

Examples of real conditional sentences expressing facts:

If + S + present tense,  S +	will	+ Verb1
	can
	may
	must

Formula          

v  If water boils, it turns to steam.

v  If water boils, it will turn to steam.

Examples of real conditional sentences expressing habitual activities:

If + S + verb1,  S + verb1

Formula          

v  If he eats breakfast, he feels better all day.

v  If he eats breakfast, he will feel better all day.

v  If he ate breakfast, he felt better all day.

These generalizations can also be expressed by using when or whenever instead of if:

v  When water boils, it turns to steam.

v  When he eats breakfast, he feels better all day.

v  When he ate breakfast, he felt better all day.

Unless – If Not

Unless used to replace if not, for negative statements. Note in the sentence below:

e.g :

v  If you don’t take an umbrella. You will get wet.

fact: Unless you take an umbrella. You will get wet.

v  if I learn, I will pass the exam

fact: if I learn, I won't fail the exam

v  If you don’t study hard. You won’t pass the examination.

fact: Unless you study hard. You won’t pass the examination.

v  if I don't learn, I will fail the exam

fact: if I dont't learn, I won't pass the exam

v  If it doesn’t rain tomorrow. I will go for a swim.

fact: Unless it rains tomorrow. I will not go for a swim.

b.      conditional sentences type 2 (Present Unreal)

This section is used to declare a state of different / opposite of the reality in the present. appropriate sentence structure as follows:

v  Main clause _ past future tense

v  If clause_ future tense simple

Conditional Sentence Type 2 : It is possible but very unlikely, that the condition will be fulfilled.

Formula           :

If + S + Verb 2 / were + S + would + Verb1 OR If + S + V2, Subject + Past Future

e.g       :

v  If you studied hard, you would pass the examination.

fact: You don’t study hard, so you would not pass the examination

v  If I had a car. I would take a trip to bali.

fact: I don’t have a car

v  If my father knew how to drive. He would buy a car.

fact: My father doesn’t know to drive

v  I would eat japanese food if I lived in japan.

fact: I don’t live in japan

v  He would buy a new house if he had much money.

fact: He doesn’t have much money

v  If I had the money, I would buy this car.

fact: Since I do not have the money I cannot buy any new car

v  If I were a president, I would go around the world.

fact: I am not a president

c.       conditional sentences type 3 (Past Unreal)

The third conditional (also called conditional type 3) is a structure used for talking about unreal situations in the past. In other words, it is used to talk about things which DID NOT HAPPEN in the past, so It is impossible that the condition will be fulfilled because it refers to the past.

Past unreal is used to express a different situation, and contrary to reality in the past. composition of the sentence as follows:

v  Main clause _ Past future perfect tense

v  If clause _ Past perfect tense.

Formula           :

If + S + Past Perfect +, S + Past perfect future + Verb 3 OR Subject + Past perfect future, if + Subjek + Past Perfect + V3

e.g       :

v  If we had played a little better, we could have won the game.

fact: We didn't play well, so we lost the game.

v  If he had gone to the concert last night, he would have seen Mary

fact: He didn’t go to the concert, so not have seen mary

v  If I had seen you yesterday, I would tell told you about it.

fact:  I didn’t see you yesterday, so I wouldn't tell you about it.

v  If weather had been fine yesterday, we would have gone for swim.

fact: the weather was bad yesterday, so we're not gone for swim

v  If you had told her the truth, she wouldn’t have been angry.

fact: You didn’t tell her the truth), she would have been angry

MAPING OF CONDITIONAL SENTENCE

CONDITIONAL SENTENCE

Conditional sentence  consist of two parts                        

IF CLAUSE

MAIN CLAUSE

There are 3 types of conditional sentence

TYPES OF CONDITIONAL SENTENCE

                                                Formula

Type 1 Future Conditional Formula : If + S + Verb (present), S + will + Verb1

Type 2 Present Conditional Formula : If + S + Verb 2 / were,     S + would + Verb1

Type 3 Past Conditional Formula : If + S + had + Verb 3, S + would have + Verb 3

                                    EXAMPLE                                           

If he wins the competition, they will give him a gold medal.

If Agnes Monica were my girlfriend, I would be the happiest boy in the world.

If Britney Spears had been here, I would have been very happy.

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[1] Tim penyusun . 2010. Koding, konsep dasar dan the king. Ganesha operhantion. Bandung.

[2] Raymond Murphy, English Grammar in Use, Cambridge University Press, New York, 1994.

[3] Mulyono dan Widayanti, English Alive, Yudhi-tiraPriadi, Jakarta, 2008.

[4] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conditional_sentence

[5] Th. M. Sudarwati dan Eudia Grace, Look Ahead Book2 An English Course, PT Gelora Aksara Pratama, Jakarta.

[6] Anwar, munash F, English in Progress Business &management, yudistira, Bogor.